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Updates on the Emilia Cruz series and other mysteries from Carmen Amato.

Have you seen the new US 100 dollar bill? Compared it to the old bill of the same denomination? Money and Mystery The changes in the $100 bill drive the plot of "The Cliff," a short story from MADE IN ACAPULCO: The Emilia Cruz Stories. "The Cliff" later became the...

I can look at the problem in one of two ways: either the news gives me great ideas for my mystery novels or all the good stuff has already been written as fact, not fiction. As the author of a mystery series set in Acapulco, I often run across plot ideas in the news...

If you only had one chance at your dream job, what if it hinged on this man’s help? In MADE IN ACAPULCO, the collection of short stories that traces Emilia’s Cruz’s path from beat cop to seasoned detective, no one wants Emilia to become Acapulco’s first female...

The Emilia Cruz mystery series delivered another bit of entertainment to mystery lovers yesterday with the release for Kindle of MADE IN ACAPULCO, a collection of short stories that take place before the action in the full-length Emilia Cruz novels. Paperback will be...

This week the very first Emilia Cruz story, "The Beast," was published by Huffington Post, in the website's Huff/Post 50 showcase of female fiction writers. Acapulco beat cop Emilia Cruz wants to become a detective. But will they break her before she gets to the...

Great mystery novels need drama and dialogue. HAT DANCE, the latest Emilia Cruz novel, delivers both but sometimes words aren't enough. Sometimes it helps to have images as well. Here is a bit about the book, which is being released for Kindle today and in paperback...

This book cover design story starts about two years ago when I was eating dinner with Sherry, the genius of all things PR, in a swanky Italian restaurant. Red wine, tortellini, and a laptop with a gallery of 4 proposed cover designs for THE HIDDEN LIGHT OF MEXICO...

Book editing is a ruthless business. How much of a book gets rewritten when an author comes back to an old manuscript? In the book editing case of HAT DANCE, the second Emilia Cruz novel coming 30 July, it looks like about 50% of what I wrote 18 months ago will hit...

Police detective Emilia Cruz is the main character in CLIFF DIVER, the first novel in my new mystery series set in Acapulco. She’s the first and only female police detective in Acapulco, a strong Latina woman who knows the value of family, how to fight for what she...

Just to whet your imagination here's a snippet of CLIFF DIVER, the first Emilia Cruz novel . . . The diver stretched to his full extension then pushed off. His back arched and his arms stretched wide and he looked like a crucifix as he sailed over the rocks. His arms...

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I write mystery and suspense, including the Detective Emilia Cruz police series set in Acapulco. Subscribe below to the Mystery Ahead newsletter and get the exclusive Detective Emilia Cruz Starter Library!